Family legacy inspires DeKalb County woman to establish nonprofit for hair loss

Atlanta - For as long as 26-year-old Moneé Sanders can remember, she says she has wanted to help people with their hair.

"I was already into the beauty industry since I was 8 years old," Sanders says.  "So, I loved hair, I loved hair care. Then, once I got to 13, I started handcrafting custom wigs, actually, and I got really great at wigs."

Sanders founded the nonprofit Alopecian Beauty Co. to provide support and resources for people living with hair loss, or alopecia. She says the inspiration for the organization came from her mother and grandmother.

"My family was the first individuals I'd seen with alopecia as a young girl," Sanders explains. "So, I immediately knew what it was, how it made people feel, the effects of it."

Sparkle Sanders, Moneé's mother, says hair loss seems to run in their family.

"I actually think the alopecia started with my grandma, and then it went for my mom, and then it went for me," she says. "So, we actually have three generations."

Dr. Melissa Babcock of Babcock Dermatology, part of the Piedmont Physicians Group, says there are a lot of reasons why we lose our hair: male or female pattern hair loss, trauma or stress, cancer treatment or medications, and immune disorders such as alopecia areata.

"That presents with circular patches of hair loss in the scalp," Dr. Babcock says. "Also, I've seen a lot of men get it in the beard area. They don't really recognize it as that. Or you can have loss of eyebrows, loss of body hair."

Sparkle Sanders says she lost a patch of hair at the top of her head when she was about 35.

She thinks it may have been caused by years of weaves that pulled at her scalp.

"I started getting different hairstyles to try and cover it," Sanders says.  "A lot of times, people don't realize that I even have alopecia because I have so much hair left, and mine is just mainly in one spot."

There is no cure for alopecia, but Moneé' Sanders hopes to build a center to provide resources for people with hair loss.

"She wants to go to the ins and outs, not just do the hair, she wants to help people figure out how to get the hair back," Sparkle Sanders says.  "She's all about natural hair care. She's about everything natural."